


Cooped Up

by theschredder



Series: From an Unauthorized Point of View [2]
Category: Star Wars: Rebellion Era - All Media Types, Star Wars: Rebels
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-29
Updated: 2020-04-29
Packaged: 2021-03-01 19:48:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,151
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23902606
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theschredder/pseuds/theschredder
Summary: Jacen Syndulla, stuck on the Ghost while his mother runs errands all over the galaxy for the Rebel Alliance struggles to pass the time while discovering his budding powers
Series: From an Unauthorized Point of View [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1686760
Comments: 1
Kudos: 4





	Cooped Up

Four year old Jacen Syndulla was feeling restless. It seemed like he was always feeling restless these days. It came from being stuck on the ship while his mother and her friends went out and did all kinds of interesting things. But it’d been that way as long as he could remember. His mother had all sorts of stories about adventures that she had been on all over the galaxy, but when he asked if she could go with her, she just told him he was too young and that he needed to stay safe on the ship.

So he stayed where he was and learned what he could from the ship archives, from Chopper, their astromech, and from the weird and requests that he could get on the net around the filters that his mother had set up. He was getting bored reading about alien species when he heard a hiss that meant his mother had returned to the ship.

“Mama!” he called out and ran to her as fast as he could. His mom laughed and picked him up, swinging him around.

“You’re getting so big!” she exclaimed. “I’m not going to be able to do this much longer.”

Jacen laughed. “That’s not true, mama. You can do anything.”

His mom looked away from him with a faraway look in her eyes. “If only that were true, my dear.” She put him down on the deck and said, “Come on, we have to deliver these supplies.”

She led the way to the cockpit and he hurried along behind her. “Chopper, we all set?” The little droid trilled and beeped an affirmative and jacked into the ship. “Jacen, come here. I need to strap you in.”

“I can do it myself, mama.” He ran over to the co-pilot’s chair and climbed up on it.

“Okay, why don’t you show me.” She came over to him smiling and inspected his work as he strapped himself in to the modified seat. “Very good, sweetie. Don’t forget to tighten your your chest strap.” Jacen did and his mom started strapping herself in as well.

“Time for pre-flight.” His mom started going through her normal checks of the ship before take off.

“I already did it with Chopper mama, while you were off picking up the supplies.”

“Did you now?” She looked over at Chopper who beeped an affirmative. “Well, then.” She looked through the log of the checks he’d done and nodded. “Looks like you’re getting the hang of co-piloting. I’ll have to let you try flying the ship one of these days.”

Jacen beamed and reached out for the controls in front of him. He’d figured out about a year ago that they didn’t actually do anything, but they looked like the controls in front of his mom and he liked to pretend he was flying the ship along with her. They took off from the planet and his mom told Chopper to plot them a course to Kashyyk. They got into position for the jump and Jacen asked his mom, “Mama, can I press the button to jump to hyperspace?”

She smiled and reached for the button in front of her. “Sure, honey.”

“No, not this button,” he explained pointing to the button in front of him. “I want to push your button.” He reached out with his mind like he’d been practicing and pressed the button in front of his mom. The stars outside the viewport turned into starlines and then they were in hyperspace.

His mom looked at him. “How long have you been able to do that!?”

Jacen smiled at her surprise. “I just figured it out a few days ago. I’ve been practicing while you’ve been away from the ship.”

Her voice turned stern. “Okay. But you can’t do that when you’re off the ship. And not if anyone else is around either.”

“Why not?” he asked, confused.

“Because you’re special. Not everyone can do that and we need to keep it between us for now.”

“Okay, mama. You can do it though, right?”

She sighed. “No, sweetie. I can’t. It’s a rare gift.”

Later, Jacen awoke in his co-pilot chair. He must have fallen asleep during the quiet ride through hyperspace, but he looked out the viewport and found that they were back in regular space coming up on Kashyyk.

“Mama, can I go with you to deliver the supplies?”

She looked at him and shook her head. “No, honey. I’m sorry. Kashyyk is supposed to be safe, but we can’t be sure that an attack won’t come and I need to know that you’re safe.”

His frowned, pouting at the controls in front of him, deliberately avoiding his mother’s gaze. “You never let me go anywhere with you. I’m just stuck on the ship while you have all the fun.”

“We’re not here for fun, Jacen,” she replied. “Hopefully this will be quick and I can just deliver the supplies and get back to you quickly.”

“What am I going to do while you’re gone? It’s so boring here,” he complained.

“Why don’t you practice more on the flight simulator program? You know you need to spend more time on it before you can fly the ship.”

“But I can fly the ship fine now,” he whined. 

“Then why don’t you practice moving things with your mind? Maybe Chopper can give you some pointers. He’s known a few people who had the same gift.”  
Jacen brightened instantly. “Really!? Who? Do I know them?”

His mom got that faraway look in her eyes again. “I’ll tell you a story about one of them when I get back, Jacen. A brave man named Kanan who saved my life more than once.”

She landed the ship and left with the supplies. Jacen tried to practice moving things, but he was too distracted by the idea of a man who had the same powers as him. He tried to distract himself with the flight simulator and by going back to reading about alien species, but all of the normal things he did seemed boring. 

He looked out the viewport at the giant trees of Kashyyk and wished he could be out there with his mom. He’d only been off the ship a couple times that he could remember, but he loved it. The air tasted different and the air moved differently from how it did through the vents of the ship. And trees and animals were so cool. He liked reading about them, but he longed to experience them for himself. Maybe when he was five, his mom would let him join her more often. He settled back in his co-pilot’s chair and starred out the viewport longingly, pushing buttons on his control panel with his mind. Someday, he’d be out there and he’d be able to explore. Maybe he would even save someone’s life like this Kanan had.

**Author's Note:**

> I've been feeling pretty cooped up for the last couple months since this Coronavirus thing started, so I decided to channel those feelings into a different situation. I hope you've been able to identify with how he's feeling, though hopefully we can all get out of our confined spaces soon. I didn't start this story intending for there to be a moral, but I think the fact that both myself and Jacen found and interesting way to spend our time has worked out. Hang in there and keep reading!


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